Out of Africa

[RevengeServer]

I absolutely love your videos, you have some serious guts handling these snakes.

my question to you is have you ever owned or come across a Stiletto Snake?

I have no clue what its scientific name but I heard that they don't bite like normals snakes do but they strike by side to side head motions.

[viperkeeper]

@RevengeServer Yes, the video is out there in my catalog.

[huynh12312]

have you ever been bitten by one of your snakes?

[2ndRCHAret]

That is one rapid elapid. You really keep your cool with those guys

[TheDisrobedwarrior]

How do you keep the snakes in the temperary bins warm?

[viperkeeper]

@TheDisrobedwarrior The room is warm enough about 75-80

[kd2slick]

wow nice black mamba

[kontsa340]

beutiful snake

[bienenhut]

how did you get the bad shed off the mole viper ! by the way great vid al greetings from germany

[viperkeeper]

Gloves

[garyfromtheUK]

hi, u made me laugh saying the safrotoxins do a very neat thing constricing the blood flow to the heart, not to neat to the person its happening to i dout. great informative vid againe al

[WrathofWotan]

Never mind the tongue-flick question - just found the answer whilst perusing the comments on the Tanzanian mamba vid - great video!

[WrathofWotan]

Hi Al - another great video! I'm wondering about the slow over-the-head tongue flicking of the two mambas at the beginning. Is it just a sign of being nervous and wary?

[Thamnophissirtalis]

Can snakes sweat?

I thought I heard you say the mamba was perspiring but I may have misheard.

[viperkeeper]

I'm not sure what I said but sweating was not it.

[Thamnophissirtalis]

Thanks I did not think they could sweat.

[WrathofWotan]

I think he said respiring - breathing.

[Rudi1034]

He said respiring, sorry if spelling is bad, but breathing, basically. Not being rude, but just watched the part you were talking about.

[S0XF0X]

Respiring-breathing quickly. :D

[BlackMamba1511]

Actually have you ever tried handled a black mamba without using tongs or hooks...from what I have seen late Mr .Steve Irwin seems to be only person to catch them like that that too by tailing him.....from what I have heard tailing a snake is the last and avoidable thing to do in snake handling training.....while tailing vipers ..they can get their spinal cord broken and at the same time strike....elapids are slightly strong but difficult to tail beacuse of their string body....what do you say?

[drewman1990x]

Al,

I saw you at the Hamburg show back in April I believe. You were speaking to a man about importing, one of my biggest interests. I was wondering how green mambas are caught over in Africa. I remember reading about J.C.P Ionides using tongs to catch mambas in Africa but was wondering if they do the same. I catch snakes here in SC fairly often and I use tongs and a bagger system that I built.

Drew, 17, South Carolina

[mambamartin]

Just one thing though, I cannot remember if you mentioned it on TRR, but are you sure they are Molevipers? If so, and if you still have them, could you e-mail me a head shot close up for a scale count?

[viperkeeper]

They had me fooled, they are Purple Gloss snakes.

[mambamartin]

This was a good video. Yes, I have been late in getting an account Al (oops).

[viperkeeper]

Hi Martin...thanks for dropping in..

Al

[aimei21]

You've established well that Mambas aren't aggressive. In your experience, are there any snakes that exhibit real, non defensive aggression? I recall one of Steve Irwin's bits in Africa having him comment on the aggressiveness of some of the African cobras, and how most Aussie snakes are pretty docile in comparison.

[viperkeeper]

I would suggest that Forest Cobras are very agressive.

[mason1291]

have you ever been bit before

[theNetworkCH]

Hi Al,

If you were bitten by one of the mambas (heaven forbid, but there is of course a risk). What kind of emergency plans do you have? For example, do you administer antivenim on yourself?

[viperkeeper]

You should never administer A/V to yourself unless there proper medical care is hours away. If the venom does not kill you the A/V might. For Elapids like the Mambas I have pressure bandages to apply right away to slow the venoms progress in my lymphatic system, dial 911 and get the A/V.

[SCherper]

what kinda response is that with a mamba flickin it's tounge like that Al?

[viperkeeper]

In Black Mamba body language that's like Defcon 2, warning that I'm pissy. Defcon 1 is next, Gaping and neck flatening, if you don't back off you will be attached in such a way you have never seen and may not live to see again. See the TRR thread that Martin and I discuss D. polylepis in detail.

[kurganuk]

your mad but respect to you

[redwoodhill]

Al, I know that mambas have the reputation of being very aggressive snakes, but from what I have seen from your videos the mambas seem to be more curious than aggressive. Do you find this to be true? Does the aggression come from people getting into a bad situation with the snake and they begin to panic, sending the animal into attack mode?

[viperkeeper]

I would not call them aggressive at all. I would rather use defensive. If you don't do anything to cause them to be defensive then you may not perceive them as aggressive.

[LonelyHiker]

I've been into snakes since I was a 6 y.o., and this species is absolutely fascinating. Great video & thanks for sharing! I presume the specimen you handle in this vid was captive-bred? I'm guessing most mambas caught in the wild wouldn't behave so placidly!

[viperkeeper]

These are captive born in March of 07

[souben4490]

Just out of curiosity Al what does your average dendro. poly. go for $ wise?Believe me I have no interest in buying one, just very curious.Thanks!

[viperkeeper]

$375 and up depending on the specimen

[blasiluc]

Il mamba nero è il mio serpente preferito da sempre, Thanks viperkeeper.

[castingtherunes]

I first learned of the existence of mole vipers when I was reading O'Shea's snake book at the library a few days ago. And I thought I knew every snake species!

[dakotavoje]

u should get a bigger container and put in sum ficus trees. u already kno this but mambas lik trees remember?

[viperkeeper]

Yeah...it's called space..besides this animal is already at Zoo.

[Cougarmint]

With them being so dangerous, how do you forcefeed a Mole Viper?

[viperkeeper]

Good question! The only thing I could come up with was to "tube it" and pinky press it.

[CltPredator]

No way! A Black mamba?! You're crazy! One of the fastest, most ferocious venomous snakes in the world. Wow, he's beautiful!

[viperkeeper]

Crazy, not really...Calculated risk and knowledge of the species.

[CltPredator]

Still, Like a ticking bomb in your hand ready too blow up any sec. Beautiful creature, But super deadly >:D

[ReinaAzulCrema]

yay the black mamba is my fav snake thanks for posting :D those are very beautiful snakes you have :)

[SnakesRule123]

lol I love how you compared bush to the "beady eyed snake"

[16sport]

u can just see how intelligent they are even the juveniles hes just sussing u out lol

[ceruleanbtrfly]

thanks so much for this, so cool to see the mambas and such a unique type of viper. awesome as always.

[chrisbrew911]

Al, did you put those Mamba's in the refridgerator before using the hooks?LOL. They were behaving really well for Mamba's.

[viperkeeper]

Nope..They were at 74 deg F

What you see is how it happens, good or bad. I shoot everything from the "Hip" and have no script prepaired. I make it up as I go...

[MUFFDADDY2]

sweet vid and snakes!

[fuelpark]

So they sorta go horrizontally? thats sorta how i picuture it

but i relly enjoyed the mamba films, id love to see more! even some greenies :)

[fuelpark]

I also dont understand what you mean about the burrowing asps' fangs

[viperkeeper]

They are so long they protrude out the corner of the mouth back where the lower maxillary bone (Jaw) attaches to the skull. They don't erect like other vipers. They move their head along side the object they wish to envenomate and jerk the head backwards stabbing the fang into they target.

[HarshPTHESNAKEFIST]

Thank you, VP, you're videos are the best. I really appreciate you putting a video of the mole vipers, uptil now,I had only see pics but never a video, you rule, thanks.

How come you don't put any more videos of sniffs? Also, could you put some videos of your kraits? I haven't seen them for months.

[viperkeeper]

Thanks very much :-)

Mr. Sniffles will be on again, actually in the September addition of "Mixed Bag" which I may put up on Wednesday. Those Kraits were obtained for a venom lab and have moved on.

Al

[critterfreek82]

I saw film on Animal Planet a few months back of Mark O'Shea getting zapped by a mole viper in this "switchblade" style, when he thought he had it in a secure 3-point hold. I believe they also play games of "pop goes the toad" in this way.

[fuelpark]

:O uve conquered your fear.

Id love to see more video fo that.

[viperkeeper]

What are you talking about??

[fuelpark]

your fear of having mambas (you said it on the mamba house episode)

[viperkeeper]

The fear comes from NOT having enough space to safely work Mambas. If they go ballistic you need to get out of their way and my room does not allow that, which causes fear.

[ixsouthpawxi]

Hey Al, I was just wondering when you were going to show the footage you have of Gabby and Sniffs acting crazy?

[viperkeeper]

I have a video that I think I'm going to call: Bitis behaving badly.

[Ophiophile]

I've noticed stickers on the cages in the background that had numbers like "C9" and "C12". What do those mean?

[viperkeeper]

Just an identifyer of what cage it is...Cage12, Cage9...ect..

[Crazyoldmerc]

Like djprocut I learned about venomous beasties in Africa. No matter how many times I watch you, Al, I get the heebiejeebies. Good work, though!

[Sloopies]

very nice snakes-where did u get them???

[jpatt2]

mambas are bad ass!

[drgntatu]

Beautiful as always. That is very interesting about the fangs on the mole viper. And by the way they look I can tell that they could easily be misinterperated as a different snake, even a non-venomous. Not a mistake you would wish anyone to make. Great video, keep 'em coming.

[bat1986]

birds have beady eyes can you not trust them either?? lol

[brenkeller]

LOL on the beady eyes comment!

[viperkeeper]

I knew I could count on you to see the humor....

[cudabob496]

Al, I'd keep politics out of it. By the way, say it's not so, in the room with a black mamba! Al, we want to keep you around!

[viperkeeper]

Actually I had 4 but am down to 2 now... I'll try not to get chomped...

[banduril]

Most impressive

[djprocut]

Hey Al! Great vid as always. I practically got mambas in my back yard at home here in South Africa and that's one critter we prefer to stay far away from, nasty as they come and fast as hell too. Great animals though.

[viperkeeper]

I'll take the Mamba over my exwife anyday.

[ScubaTim]

At least a Mamba WANTS to touch you!

[HarshPTHESNAKEFIST]

Viperkeeper, you keep cool snakes, but could you maybe get a boomslang on the show or even a red headed krait or a long glanded coral snake. I apologise in advance if this is a tall order but you have shown me some of the greatest snakes around, but I have found no vids of the above snakes, so I turn to you.

I know these are a bit more exotic than others, but they are really beautiful to look at, so I am asking you.

[viperkeeper]

Had both in the country at the beginning og the year..didn't get any video before they moved on...next time. I do have a Krait video in my back catalog.

[Rzl36]

Have you worked with dendroaspis before? You certainly got steel ones. The mere look of them scares the heck out of me. I can't not believe you did "mamba cam." The Tanzanian locale is beautiful. Could it be said that Mole Vipers are the pinnacle of snake evolution or a side-step (so to speak)? They are just so unique. Keep 'em coming Al.

[Rzl36]

Hey Al,

[rattlergr]

Thats for sure the best video i have seen! its really amazing how calm you kept that mambas,also i loved that tongue flicking!one more amazing video!

[bloodshot16]

thank you so much for putting up a vid of these

[FREAKIEFROG]

Al first of all I love your vids, I keep and breed constrictors and a couple of other species of snakes, (corns and so on). I have never worked with hots and really have no desire to but still enjoy them as great wonderful animals.

What happened I remember when you said that you wouldn't keep Mambas. :D

Best of luck and keep the vids coming.

[viperkeeper]

I obtained these for a Zoo and they don't want them just yet, so I have them for a while.

[FREAKIEFROG]

LOL well they are nice looking critters. Maybe you can get rid of them before you get to liking them

[bodycracker]

Viper, as you know I love your videos. However, please keep your idiotic anti-Bush comments to yourself. If the islamic bastards ever take control, they wont allow you to play with your snakes!

[viperkeeper]

First & foremost: My channel I can say what I wish.

Second: I agree we are not doing enough to eliminate Islamist assholes and the democrats are not the answer either.

Third: Bush is a moron and the worst president this country has seen. We are no safer than before, actually worse IMO

[ErikPaterson]

the bibrons mole viper looks a lot like an african housesnake - very few differences that would be a nasty surprise for you eh?

[Nick615]

I can't believe you actually did Dendroaspis cam! I can imagine these caused a little sweating? :)

[viperkeeper]

Actually the Mamba did it...It's okay when THEY approach but may not be okay if I approach.  I was more sweaty the night before when they were climbing the sticks.

[FLVenom]

Beautiful polylepis. Do they bite?

[viperkeeper]

Only if you try to grab their tongue.

[Nick615]

Or in rare cases ;-) a little before that...

[viperkeeper]

They were obtained for a Zoo but I may end up keeping one. Not sure yet....

[magana559]

WOW awsome tonge flicks!

[viperkeeper]

Each type of flick tells me what kind of mood/disposition it's currently in.

[magana559]

im guessing long slow fliks ok, short fast flicks put it back in the box?

[viperkeeper]

Defcon 3= slow tongue flick over top of snout, Very cautious/nervous

Defcon 2= Defcon 3 plus flattening of the neck, back off you ass before you piss me off.

Defcon 1= Defcon 2 plus "gaping", Okay I'm going to bite the crap out of you.

Defcon 0= All of above plus hissing= Throw sticks and run like HELL.

[magana559]

Ha ha ha ha ha... thats funny! "Throw sticks and run like HELL" funny but not to be taken as a joke! love the mambas btw!

[roswald07]

Hi Al, beautiful Mamba's the yellow (phase?) has some interesting tongue flicks. I have never heard of the Mole Viper, so here is another species that you have introduced me to so Thanks again Al and keep up the great work.

[SCherper]

wow awsome mambas AL!

[malerror]

I get nervous evertime I watch one of your videos.

[viperkeeper]

I get nervous everytime I make my videos !

[senegalus]

Very interesting

Your first own mambas right?

[viperkeeper]

No, first at this location.

[Sloopies]

pretty cool snake

[TrustyBucket]

sweet vid Al! It was awesome of you to put on some handling footage of the mamabas, and I found it very interesting.. And congrats on the sawscales!

[viperkeeper]

Thanks...

[bodycracker]

beautiful. I loved her in Kill Bill

[viperkeeper]

My friend Jay owns that snake...

[bat1986]

great video

[unprofessionality]

Ever use trap boxes for those quick elapids?

[viperkeeper]

Yes! It depends on the animal and how it reacts to routine interactions. I just sent one 7 ft specimen off to a zoo. She was a Trapbox-only snake, she would kill somebody if given the chance.

[anngus]

was the seven foot one the mega taipan or a mamba

[viperkeeper]

Taipan

[conleykills23]

Nice Video. I love mambas